Award Data

A hollow reservoir cathode for use in ion and Hall thrusters which uses iodine as propellant. Reservoir cathodes have unique features not found in conventional impregnated cathodes. The critical barium reduction process occurs in the reservoir, not in the matrix, and this isolates that process from iodine poisoning. Also, the barium supply is 100 times greater than is available in conventional cat ...

Building on previously funded work by NASA and DARPA, its internal research and development projects, and manufacturing activities occurring on the International Space Station (ISS), Made In Space, Inc. (MIS) is developing the VULCAN system to address NASA’s requirement to produce high-strength, high-precision polymer and metallic components on-orbit with comparable quality to commercially-avail ...

Made In Space, Inc. (MIS) proposes the development, to a critical design level, of an Industrial Crystal Facility (ICF) for microgravity product manufacturing and applied research. The ICF is focused on advanced materials engineering, rather than biomedical research, and expands utilization of the ISS into new product areas not previously investigated. Intended applications include nonlinear optic ...

We propose an innovative hybrid composite material containing shear thickening fluid (STF) Energy Absorbing Layers (SEALs) that provides superior impact protection and novel, self-healing functionality to prevent leakage after impact. The proposed innovation directly addresses the need for thin, lightweight, impact-resistant composite materials that can be fabricated in complex geometries for nex ...

For the purposes of supporting planned and future NASA missions and addressing an unmet NASA need for high-quality visible through shortwave-infrared telescope phase-correction optics manufactured and delivered quickly and inexpensively, Voxtel proposes a Phase II effort to develop a new class of three-dimensional freeform optics and to demonstrate the optical precision and size reduction possible ...

This SBIR system is a machine learning system that uses a very large database of airside and landside data to predict pushback and takeoff times of aircraft at a given airport. Airside data sources describe the state of the system after TSA security screening is complete, and includes information about the crew and passengers arriving at the departure gate, turnaround and pushback preparation, ra ...

Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) has been mandated by the FAA for all aircraft that fly in Class A airspace in year 2020 and beyond. ADS-B will be the foundation of surveillance, and in this SBIR effort, we exploit the fact thta ADS-B data can also provide evidence of aircraft flying through known sources of aviation turbulence. Phase I R&D showed that moderate or greater leve ...

We develop a system composed of two displays, one for the Flight Deck (FD) and one for the Airline Operational Control (AOC) dispatcher. The FD and AOC displays form a shared situational awareness of the different forms of turbulence hazards that are ahead of the aircraft. A wide range of turbulence measurement, sensing, and forecasting systems are available, and we determined the most appropri ...

A Regenerable Carbon Filter (RCF) is proposed for the removal of carbonaceous particulate matter produced in Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) processes. Successful development of this technology will result in a device that effectively collects ultrafine carbon particles in a high density, high storage capacity volume which is subsequently regenerated in-situ using self-cleaning techn ...

This project develops an ultra-thin and formable prepreg material from reusable short carbon fiber composites (CFC), including process and material development, test panel fabrication and mechanical performance evaluation. Key to superior performance of ultra-thin ply materials is the ability to fabricate high fiber volume and uniform fiber distribution prepreg with low void content and layer thic ...